King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “mortality”

Romaji: shibou
death; dying; mortality

In Japanese, mortality is , read (shibou).

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Meanings

  1. n, vi, vs death; dying; mortality

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

death, die
on: シ
kun: し.ぬ、し.に-
6 strokes · JLPT 3
deceased, the late, dying
on: ボウ、モウ
kun: な.い、な.き-、ほろ.びる、ほろ.ぶ
3 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “mortality”

WordReadingMeaning
ひつめつ hitsumetsumortality

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ひっし hisshifrantic; frenetic; desperate
しけい shikeideath penalty; capital punishment
ししゃ shishadead person; (the) deceased; (the) dead
したい shitaidead body; corpse; cadaver
しきょ shikyodeath; decease; passing away
ぼうめい boumeifleeing from one's country; seeking asylum; defection
めつぼう metsuboudownfall; ruin; collapse
とうぼう toubouescape; flight; running away

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.

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